Author: Mel

Living aboard a sailboat, blogging about the places we visit and the adventures we have. Love hiking, cycling, scuba, animals and adventure.

Where We Are: Anchored in Great Bird Island, Antigua

Brian, Domino and I have been anchored in Great Bird Island, Antigua for a month. We moved here as the island was going into lockdown, quarantine et al due to Coronavirus.

A month is a long time for us! In fact, this is the longest we have stayed in one anchorage since we moved on board Sava. Since this is Sava’s new home, here’s a rundown of the anchorage, with lots of photos.

Where is Great Bird Island?

Located in the northeast of Antigua, Great Bird Island is a tiny uninhabited islet with other even smaller islets surrounding it. While uninhabited, during tourist season it can be busy in the daytime when power boats bring locals and tour groups to the beaches and for snorkeling.

Map of Antigua. Great Bird Island in red
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Provisioning During Covid-19 Curfew

After spending 3 weeks in a remote anchorage, and not visiting a supermarket in almost 4 weeks, the crew of Sava needed supplies. Our intrepid captain Brian summoned up his skills from a past life as a restaurateur and found a wholesaler to stock our anchorage. We are becoming experts at provisioning during Covid-19 curfew.

Straight to the Source

Brian’s idea was brilliant because the wholesaler has scant customers right now. The hotels, resorts and restaurants that are their regular businesses are all shuttered. We cruisers stepped in to fill the void, and our pantries, fridges and freezers and bars. This was a good provisioning.

Google Docs FTW

The wonders of technology, and Brian’s skills, made this provisioning pretty pain free. The wholesaler sent us 4 lists of products and prices, we made them available to our 7 buddy boats, and people spent a day creating their orders.

We used shared google docs folder so we could see each other’s orders, which was really helpful because many of the supplies were only available in bulk. But what’s 15 lbs of bacon or pork loin between 7 boats?

Bacon anyone?
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Where’s Domino?

Everybody is getting bored of lockdown, except for our cat Domino. This is normal life for her: she hasn’t left the boat since last February when we stayed overnight at our friends’ Louis and Susan’s place in Miami. So the question isn’t so much where’s Domino in the world, just where’s Domino on the boat.

Domino’s Favorite Lounging Spots

Domino moves around our boat like it’s hers, and she has her favorite spots to relax. Also, the boat isn’t that big so she doesn’t have too many options! She goes from our bed to her food bowl to the salon couch to the bookshelf and back and forth and in between during daytime hours.

Where's Domino? In the bookshelf
She’s found a good nook among the books
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